Lycoris squamigera

About a week and a half ago, we had a strong rain come through the area.
It probably lasted only 20 minutes, but dropped almost 3/4" of rain.
Last Suturday, while driving into Bentonville, I found two locations
with L. squamigera in full bloom. One location was a shady area under a
house eave, the whole front of the house having a display, and the other
was in full sun, just a clump, right by a ditch. The other usual
locations showed no sign of bloom.
The day after the rain, I went out to check my Lycoris beds. These beds
have about 2" of coarse oak mulch on top. Digging my finger into it, I
found that only the first inch of mulch was moist. The rain didn't even
make it into the soil in the beds. Well, Wednesday, we were supposed to
get another string of storms roll through. I watched the radar and the
line ran hundreds of miles south and west of us and hundreds more north
and east. Somehow, someway, we did not get a single drop of rain from
it, even though I could hear thunder constantly to our southwest.
Anyway, before this potential rain event, I had zero L. squamigera
flower stalks, a few L. longituba and one L. sanguinea coming up.
Because we had no rain, I drip irrigated the Lycoris plots yesterday,
which, at this point had one L. squamigera bloom stalk. Today, I have
about half a dozen coming up of the L. squamigera and L. longituba.
We'll see how it goes. I was hoping for a solid stand of L. squamigera
this season, as the foliar stand was good and the bulbs are big. So far,
no sauce. Even yesterday, none of the usual stands were coming up in
Bentonville, so I am guessing the rain triggered bloom in locations that
got excess moisture from roofs or ditches. I wonder if change in
atmospheric pressure is involved? I believe we have discussed this
before, considering irrigation alone does not appear to always provide
the solution.
Mr. Kelly M. Irvin
10850 Hodge Ln
Gravette, AR 72736
USA
479-787-9958
USDA Cold Hardiness Zone 6a/b
http://www.irvincentral.com/
Jim McKenney wrote:
> Lycoris squamigera, which I think of as the flagship of the local
> oporanthous flora, is blooming now in the greater Washington, D.C. area. Not
> only are they blooming in my garden, but several friends in nearby northern
> Virginia have reported bloom.
>
> As is usual, plants growing in the shade are blooming before plants growing
> in sunny spots.
>
> Jim McKenney
> jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com
> Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone
> 7, where I might have an exciting Cardiocrinum story for you soon.
> My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/
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